Feedback – Robison Wells– Last month I read the first one, “Variant” and could not put it down. This one was no different. I think this may only be a two book series but I need to do some research for other novels by this author because man, he sure knows how to draw me in. I stayed up late finishing this book in one sitting as well. I don’t want to spoil it but I do want someone to read it so we can talk about the massive twist!

Green Rider – Kristen Britain– This one has a lot of familiar elements. The young girl who doesn’t really fit in, a quest, a magical horse. It’s got a little of Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series (which is one of my all time favorites if you haven’t read it)and a little bit of The Hobbit too. That said, it’s still a compelling story and one that I’ve enjoyed though I don’t know that I’ll bother with the rest of the series. The heroine is just a little too naive and lucky.

Written in Red – Anne Bishop – I’m pretty sure I first heard about this on PeruseProject and while I don’t totally ‘get’ booktubers, I like Regan’s style. And I loved this book, couldn’t put it down. Crazy interesting world and mythology with humor and a compelling story. I really, really enjoyed it and …

Murder of Crows – Anne Bishop – So I picked up the next one in the series! So very good. Although there’s a part of me that thinks Bishop may have created the entire series to write a book with a punny title… I can’t get over how interesting this world is and how it cuts a little close to the bone on human treatment of the natural world and how utterly screwed we would be if the Earth suddenly decided to fight back. Highly recommend.

The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson – Books like these are why people invented ereaders. It’s mammoth. With a character list that rivals Game of Thrones, it’s a bit hard to keep track of who is doing what to whom in what part of the realm, but Sanderson does a good job of moving between the two often enough that you don’t totally lose your place. There’s almost nothing about this that’s familiar enough to grab on to, and the story is a bit wearying at times. Not necessarily because of the story telling itself but because I can only read so much about war and the dumb reasons human beings kill each other before I just want to give up. I will say that the book ends on a (relative) high note and I’ll be keeping an eye out for the next book in the series. Here’s hoping that the author has gotten slightly less verbose.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe –Benjamin Alire Saenz– Well, this was interesting. I honestly couldn’t tell you what I was expecting but it wasn’t a sweet tale about teenage boys falling in love. The style is interesting and it’s a quick read. Upon finishing I really had to reflect and absorb and I think I’ll be thinking about this one for awhile. Overall, I’d recommend.

Shaman, Healer, Heretic – M Terry Green – I know I’ve been talking a lot about unique mythologies lately but I guess I continue to be surprised by the depths of the human imagination. This is a tech-supernatural kind of book that reminded me a lot of the show “Dead Like Me” and while our heroine isn’t a reaper, she travels to the underworld on the regular.

Demons at Deadnight – A&E Kirk – In the way of many young adult fantasy novels where the young girl discovers she is somehow special and is saved by the dashing new neighbors, this book doesn’t offer much in terms of uniqueness. But it kept my attention long enough to finish which is more than I can say for at least 3 other free Kindle books I’ve started and put down within a few pages.

Oracle of Philadelphia – Elizabeth Corrigan – I must have picked up and discarded five free Kindle books before finally getting into this one. It trips along pretty quickly though (it must be pretty short) and has a nice unexpected twist at the end. I’m sure there are more but I’m not in love enough to keep going.

Special Offers – ML Ryan – The cheesiness factor of the synopsis on this made me pick it up. A gal orders a Kindle but with it comes a supernatural entity! Please. … But actually, it’s kind of entertaining. Completely ridiculous and even more implausible than most fantasy books but enjoyable nevertheless.

Unfinished

Dodger – Terry Pratchett – Normally I’m a fan of Pratchett, but for whatever reason this one just didn’t grab me. It felt stale and overly descriptive. There’s ‘show don’t tell’ and then there’s OMG shut up I get it!

Born of Deception – Teri Brown – Apparently this is book two, and either they need to be read in order or I was just not in the mood. It’s set in turn of the century London and the heroine is a bit whiny for my taste.

2 thoughts on “Bookworm – December Reading List”

[…] drawn out either. The mythology is truly unique to him, though between this and The Way of Kings there are similarities. There is also a similar theme of oppression and overthrowing the corrupt […]